MLS Announces New TV Deal

Major League Soccer has finalized a new, eight-year television deal that guarantees dedicated
time slots and according to Sports Business Daily is worth five times the monetary value of its
last deal.

Starting next season, ESPN, Fox Sports and Spanish network Univision will assume broadcast
rights for MLS and U.S. Soccer. For the first time in league history, each television partner will
have a dedicated MLS game of the week, a key priority for the league as it pursued this new
deal.

Univision will have a Friday night game that will primarily be shown on Unimas, while ESPN and
Fox Sports 1 will have a Sunday evening doubleheader starting at 5 p.m. In all, more than 125 games
will be aired during these time slots each season. Games broadcast on Univision will have an
English broadcast option as well.

The deal also means an end to the league’s self-produced MLS Live and MLS Direct Kick packages
will be transferred to ESPN’s ESPN3 and WatchESPN platforms, which are available to users who have
an affiliated internet service provider.

The benefits to the deal are clear. MLS games have been aired at all different times and days of
the week across several different networks as part of its current deal with NBC. The hope is that
having dedicated time slots will raise what have been largely lukewarm television ratings.

According to SBD, the deal is worth $90 million annually -- $75 million from ESPN/Fox and $15
million from Univision.

What will this mean about access for Crew fans, who have voiced their displeasure with the team’s
exclusive television deal with Time Warner Cable? As it stands, fans outside of the blackout
radius emanating from Crew Stadium without Time Warner have only been able to access Crew games via
the league’s subscription packages, which will go away with this deal.

Per the release, the new MLS out-of-market product will be available on ESPN3 or WatchESPN via
over-the-top services such as Google Play, iTunes Apple TV, Roku and others. Not all cable
providers are affiliated with ESPN3, however, which could leave some Crew fans still in the
dark.

Citing the early stage of the agreement, the Crew declined to comment on how the news will
affect its own situation. A message to Time Warner Cable was not immediately returned.

A press conference will take place at 1 p.m. Check back with Dispatch.com afterward and follow
me on Twitter at @AdamJardy for updates.